Wharton’s MBA Admissions Director Steps Down
The director of M.B.A Admissions and Financial Aid at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Ankur Kumar, is resigning effective Friday. Departures like this are rare in the middle of an application season (the deadline for Wharton’s first round of MBA applications was yesterday). Until a new director is found, the Wharton admissions team will operate under the oversight of Maryellen Lamb, the deputy vice dean for MBA admissions, financial aid, and career management.
The announcement of Kumar’s resignation comes right after an article in the Wall Street Journal headlined “What’s Wrong With Wharton?” highlighted the fact that Wharton has seen a 12 percent decrease in its number of MBA applications over four years. However, it is unclear whether her resignation is related to the article. A professor and admissions consultant with ties to Wharton told the media that Kumar had told her staff about her departure last week.
Wharton’s application rate has been declining even as other schools of its caliber have reported gains in the number of MBA applications they receive. Ms. Kumar and her staff suggest that Wharton’s lower application figures and higher yield in the past few years mean that Wharton has gotten better at targeting candidates, not that a Wharton degree is in lower demand.
Wharton has had high turnover in its admissions staff in the past decade. Rose Martinelli left to direct admissions at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business in 2005, while her successor, Thomas Caleel, left in 2008. J.J. Cutler served for two years after Caleel before returning to his pre-Wharton position at Aramark. Ankur Kumar became director of admissions in 2011.
